relapse records – Nine Circles

CANTO: Abysmal Dawn, Author & Punisher, SOM, and More

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021CoreyLeave a comment

I had three primary things to do today… and I got through exactly one of them. So it goes.

Abysmal Dawn are releasing a new EP, Nightmare Frontier, on February 4 through Season of Mist. Check out the first single and video from that effort, titled “A Nightmare Slain”, right here.
Another new album announcement came by way of Near Death Condition, the Swiss death metal project. Ascent from the Mundane will be out on February 12th through Unique Leader. Check out the new single, “The Bridal Chamber”, here.
Nothing but album announcements today… deal with it. Author & Punisher have set February 11th as the release date for Krüller. That one will be out through Relapse Records. Check out “Drone Carrying Dread” right here.
Closing on a Pelagic note. SOM dropped a new video for “Moment”, a track taken from their upcoming new album, The Shape of Everything. That one drops on January 21st and can be acquired here.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Album Review: Monolord — “Your Time to Shine”

November 4, 2021November 1, 2021Angela BlockLeave a comment

Masters of riffs and doomy goodness, Monolord have emerged from the smoke after two years with their latest full-length release Your Time to Shine. This is most certainly a Monolord album, however, there is some fine-tuning and added finesse making it a unique addition to the band’s discography. It may even be the best album by the Swedish trio to date. This dynamic album has everything fans love about Monolord—amazing riffs, sludge distortion, hypnotic doom metal vocals—with added dramatics and wrapped in a crisp production. Your Time to Shine was created with “liters of coffee, cinnamon buns, and good bad jokes” which can be felt in these five tracks. Who knew that was the perfect formula for creating stellar doom metal?

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Monolord’s Thomas Jäger on new album “Your Time To Shine,” readying for an upcoming tour, thoughts on the afterlife, being a music teacher, and much more!

November 3, 2021October 30, 2021opethbodomLeave a comment

Your Time To Shine is Monolord‘s fifth full length release since exploding onto the doom metal scene back in 2014 with their excellent debut Empress Rising. To say their rise in this genre has been anything other than meteoric would be an atrocity, and even including ‘rise’ in that statement is misleading since their debut captured fans from across the globe and landed on many best of lists. Their sound has become the new standard in doom metal for anyone looking for something outside the ‘paint by numbers’ formula that’s been around for so long. And, with every album since, their star shines ever brighter. Your Time To Shine continues this tradition and further cements their legacy in doom metal. With that said, jump in for an excellent chat with Thomas Jäger via The Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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CANTO: Yob, The Ocean, Necronomicon, and More

November 2, 2021November 2, 2021CoreyLeave a comment

There is plenty to discuss today, so let’s get right into it.

We’ll start with a couple of reissues. First, Yob is releasing a deluxe version of Atma, which I am super excited about. That will be out on April 8 through Relapse, and you can pre-order that here. Or, of course, through Bandcamp. Fun fact, Yob also has a few live dates coming up, including FOUR at Saint Vitus in February. So jump on that as well.
And then we have Cirith Ungol, who are reissuing 1981’s Frost and Fire. That will be out through Metal Blade on December 17th, and that can be pre-ordered on pretty much any format right here. 40 years. Holy damn.
Necronomicon have announced a new livestream show, “Vivus Verum”, scheduled for November 12th. That will be premiered at the Season of Mist YouTube channel, and the event will be in support of their latest album, Unus, which dropped last year. Here’s a trailer for the event, as well as an opportunity to set a reminder.
Okilly Dokilly have announced “Tourdiddly Do” 2022 dates, running from April 14th through May 7th. But it will be your last chance to see them, maybe ever, as they announced an indefinite hiatus immediately following the tour. Regardless, we should all take great joy in knowing this project ever existed at all.
Since we have an opportunity to close out the day with The Ocean, you bet I’m going to seize it. Check out the clip for “Jurassic | Cretaceous”, taken from their Roadburn Redux performance, below. As a reminder, Phanerozoic Live will be out on November 26th through Metal Blade and Pelagic Records.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Initial Descent: October 24 – 30, 2021

October 25, 2021October 23, 2021JoshLeave a comment

Ok folks, last full week of spooky season so get your scare on…stat. Or, you could go watch this gory bit from Archspire and consider yourself covered. Speaking of… this week’s new metal release list kicks off with bonkers tech death from, you guessed it, Archspire and it does indeed slap, and slay, in equal parts. We’ve got another tech death slab in the form of jazz hands from First Fragment, deep and fuzzy doom from Monolord who stay as consistently good as ever, a new slab of mastometal from Mastodon, and many, many more in the list that follows. Yep, another great week for new releases and yet another long list to keep you busy. Don’t forget to gorge on horror and scary stuff while you’re shovelin’ cash at all these artists, think of it as a treat or treat scenario where it’s a treat for you and a treat for them. Enjoy.

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